This Pasta Recipe Is the Answer to Your Weeknight Dinner Prayers
I tend to have unreasonably high expectations — especially when it comes to pasta.
It’s because I spent most of my childhood and adolescence eating plain pasta with my dinner. And I’m not talking about pasta that errs on the side of plain, dressed only with butter and Parmesan and chile flakes.
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Pasta with broccoli rabe and white bean-anchovy sauce. (Photo: Bobbi Lin/Food52)
No, I’m talking about plain ass pasta: No cheese, no fat, no flavor; pasta dry enough to eat with my fingers, then run those same fingers across a silk blouse with no risk of tainting it with pesto or red sauce or chili oil anything else that might possibly be considered good-tasting.
(I swear my parents do love me.)
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Cacio e pepe errs on the side of plain but is far from it. (Photo: Bobbi Lin/Food52)
The pasta I ate at my kitchen table was nothing food, unrelated to the pasta dishes I occasionally ordered at restaurants. To even attempt to make pasta desirable at home was futile, never even considered.
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But that was before I met my boyfriend, who regularly has spaghetti with ricotta, Parmesan, and anchovies as an 11 P.M. “snack,” or my Food52 colleagues, who’ve demonstrated time and time again that pasta is best when it’s not plain.
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Now that I know what pasta can be—brothy and creamy and at peace amidst so many vegetables and cheeses and nuts and raisins (?!)—there’s no going back: I’m spoiled now.
This pasta may look plain, but we promise, it isn’t. (Photo: Bobbi Lin/Food52)
When I came across Broccoli Rabe and Orecchiette with White Bean-Anchovy Sauce on the Cook’s Illustrated website, it seemed to fulfill all of my great expectations: creamy beans; bitter greens that cook with the pasta; and a brothy, fishy sauce—all in under 30 minutes.
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But the results were disappointing: The pasta was mostly dry and the “sauce” mythical—a case where the name of the recipe tasted better than the food itself. I fished for rabe and beans, nudging all else aside.
To turn it into what I had imagined it would be—where the orecchiette was not in the way of the sauce but empowered by it—I upped the amount of broth; added cream and ricotta for richness (though you can omit those at your discretion); and mashed the beans to a soft consistency. For brightness and spice, there’s lemon juice and red pepper flakes.
Related: 14 Ways to Give Your Rice or Pasta Dregs New Life
Ready quickly (with minimal mess), incredibly flavorful, satisfying enough to eat alone yet acceptable to serve to company, this pasta meets all of my criteria (and I hope yours, too).
Pasta with Broccoli Rabe and White Bean-Anchovy Sauce
Serves 4 to 6
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
4 anchovy fillets, minced
4 medium cloves garlic, minced
½ to 1 teaspoons red pepper flakes, plus more for garnishing
Two 15 ½-ounce cans white beans, drained and rinsed (I used cannellini, but any kind of white bean is fine)
1 1/3 cups vegetable stock (homemade or low-sodium)
1 splash heavy cream (optional)
Salt and pepper
1 pound orecchiette, penne, or other short, tubular pasta
1 ½ pounds broccoli rabe, washed well, trimmed, and cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
½ lemon
Fresh ricotta, for garnishing (optional)
Grated Pecorino Romano, for garnishing
In a medium skillet over medium-low heat, heat the oil, anchovy, garlic, and red pepper flakes, stirring until anchovy dissolves, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add beans, stock, and cream (if using). Simmer to thicken, 4 to 5 minutes, smashing the beans gently with a wooden spoon so that some of the beans remain whole but about half become mushy. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cover to keep warm.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. When boiling, add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta. Cook until pasta just begins to soften, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Add greens; cook until greens are wilted fully and pasta is al dente, 3 to 4 minutes longer.
Reserve 1/3 cup pasta water, then drain the pasta and greens and return to pot. Add sauce and reserved pasta water and cook over medium-low heat, stirring to meld flavors, about 1 minute.
Taste for salt and pepper. Squeeze half a lemon over the pot and mix to combine. Mix in several dollops of fresh ricotta (if using). Serve immediately, topping with grated cheese and more red pepper flakes at the table.
By Sarah Jampel.
